The UFC Continues to Stack the Deck
By Eddie Sanchez
Without missing a beat, the UFC once again confirmed another high profile PPV event. Lightweight Champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, will take on Interim Champion, Justin Gaethje, at UFC 254 on October 24th.
It will have been over a year since Khabib last stepped foot in the cage, but more tragically, he will be doing so without his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, in his corner. His father recently passed away due to heart complications stemming from his COVID-19 infection. All eyes will be on Khabib to see how he is able to bounce back from losing his father and mentor.
Justin Gaethje most recently dominated Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 as a late replacement for Khabib, who saw the potential matchup be signed and later cancelled for the fifth time. While many fans looked forward to the Khabib-Ferguson matchup in the past, we will now be treated to the man-who-beat-the-man.
This will be an interesting matchup stylistically, as Gaethje, an excellent boxer in his own right, utilized his striking skills effectively against Ferguson. We are sure to see adjustments from Gaethje leading into the PPV event and it will be intriguing to see Khabib’s level of focus after his tragic loss.
Dana White expressed these sentiments in his initial interview post announcement: “It’s been very rough on him,” White said of Nurmagomedov. “Everybody is close to their parents and everything, but his father was a hero to him. He loved his father. They had a very close relationship, and it was very hard on him.”
The fan in me is appreciative that Khabib will still be fighting and the human-side of me also recognizes that his ability to strap his boots and get to work might be a solid distraction, but in a sport that requires so much focus, there will naturally be questions regarding his well being and attentiveness.
There were even rumblings that Khabib might have immediately retired following his father’s death. He and his father mentioned that his goal is to walk away on-top at 30-0, but given that he sits at 28-0, those rumors seemed pretty realistic given the circumstances.
Ali Abdelaziz, Khabib’s manager, went on to also confirm publicly that Nurmagomedov intends to face interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje. He added that if victorious, he would then go for 30-0 before retirement.
This confirmation helped ease many UFC fans from the rumors and now has everyone focused on the October date.
While careful not to discount Justin Gaethje, Dana White told ESPN that he would support Khabib’s choice of a final opponent, including former welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
Khabib had expressed interest in a fight against St-Pierre for years. It is well documented that both he and his late father had interest in the potential matchup, given their enormous respect for St-Pierre. They even went on to formally propose the matchup to the UFC in early 2019, but St-Pierre abruptly announced his retirement and revealed that while there were talks for the superfight, the UFC went another direction.
Since then, St-Pierre has been repeatedly asked about a comeback fight, and though he insists that he is happily retired, has also alluded to still being interested in a fight with Khabib. He also looks to be in great shape and seeing Dana White shift his attitude about the potential matchup, the collective ear within the industry is certainly listening intently.
Until then, we can appreciate the gauntlet of confirmed cards leading up to UFC 254 and go from there.
What are your predictions for UFC 254? If Khabib wins, will fans be treated to a matchup with Georges St-Pierre?
